Taang Week
by Wolvenfire86
Summary: These are my 7 stories for Taang week. I hope everyone enjoys them.
1. Tease

**Disclaimer: I do not own Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, Zuko, Iroh or any of the other wonderful characters in Avatar or the world they live in.**

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**Taang week is finally here. HOORAY! I hope everyone enjoys.**

**Special thanks to charizardag!**

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**Tease**

Toph poked at the campfire with a stick. She couldn't see the flames, but she enjoyed pushing the heat towards her and away from her. She liked to imagine what 'Fire' looked like and people used it so often and, at the same time, were very afraid of it.

Buh-bump. A light pair of feet touched the ground next to her.

"Hi twinkle toes." Toph said.

"Hi…" Aang sighed and sat down next to his earth bending master, on the same stone bench they had built the night before. Through the stone, Toph could feel the stress in his shoulders and anguish in his voice.

"What's up with you?" She asked, as gently and nurturing as she usually did.

"Forget it." Aang said.

"Fine." Toph threw the stick into the fire and heard it snap. "But I'll listen if you…ya know…wanna talk about it."

Aang sighed again.

"It's just…" Aang hesitated. "…you're a girl."

"Really? Thanks for noticing." Toph said, sarcastically and angrily.

"Sorry. But…" Aang paused. "Is it just Katara, or are all girls…I mean…girls are…"

"Just say it already!"

"Katara is such a…tease."

"A…tease?

"Yeah. She does things that make me think that she likes me, but then she…pushes me away. Like it's a game to her or something."

"Really. You don't say." Toph regretted offering to listen to Aang's problems. She was not in the mood to hear about how much Aang loved Katara, not after a thousand times of hearing it before.

"Yeah. It's so unfair. Like, we were waterbending today…and she was…ya know. In her outfit." Toph felt Aang's heart speed up and she grew even more annoy with him. "Anyway, she said that she really loved training with me and that she really loved now I've grown. She even told me that I looked good with all the exercise I've gotten. I felt…good. She made me feel really proud of myself."

"A-hem." Toph said.

"What?" Aang said.

"Aang. Last time we had an earthbending lesson, I told you the same thing."

"You did?"

"Yes! I said you've grown a lot stronger and I loved training with you. _And_ I said something about you being able to have any girl you want…if you tried hard enough."

"Oh…oh." Aang got sad, worried that he had completely misheard Katara's message. "Then…never mind. But listen to this! You know how Katara loves cooking every other night?"

"Don't remind me. I'm getting sick of rice and lettuce stew."

"Yeah, well…about a month ago, we had enough money to buy a little beef for the rice, but she cooked it and gave it _all_ to me! Can you believe that? Sokka said it was just because I was the Avatar and she thought I needed the strength. But…come on! That's a sigh, isn't."

"What about last week?" Toph asked. She sounded like she was getting angrier at him.

"What _about_ last week?" Aang asked, still oblivious.

"Last week I spent the last of my parent's gold to buy you a special, super sized bowl of golden ramen noodles and I cooked it myself. I can't see, you know." Toph tugged on her eyelids. "Cooking _anything_ is really hard! I gave it to you and you barely said 'thank you'."

"What are you talking about? I said thank you." Aang said.

"That's not the point." Toph grew angrier…

"Anyway, about Katara…" …and angrier at him. "…there's one thing that gets me really, really confused. Every now and then, she gives me this look. Like, a smile and a glare at the same time. And then I try to hold her hand, but she doesn't let me."

Toph tapped the stone bench. She felt Aang's hand leaning next to her own, felt his heart beat gently through his thin fingers. She felt nervous, but also thought that it would be a great time to let him know how she felt…and _not_ have him misunderstand her this time.

"It's just…so confusing." Aang kept talking about Katara, not noticing Toph's hand slowly creep towards his own. "How am I supposed to feel? I mean, how would anyone know what to feel in my shoes?"

Toph inhaled deeply. Toph slowly touched his knuckles, then put her thin fingers on his …then Aang lifted his hand away and ruined the moment.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, indifferently and casual.

Steam shot out of Toph's ears and her face turned as red as the fire in front of them.

"You are such a…stupid…dim-witted…why do I even bother with you?!" She yelled and the ground shook with a thunderous rumble.

"What did I do?" Aang asked. Toph grabbed him and pushed him off the bench.

"Forget it! Just forget it!" Toph kept yelling. She stood up, and walked away, not wanting to speak with Aang anymore.


	2. Games

**Games**

"Bored again?" Aang asked. Toph was scratching her ear and throwing rocks at Momo, while the tiny Lemu jumped up and down trying to catch them.

"How could you tell?" Toph asked.

"You're easy to read." Aang sat down next to her. "I'll do something with you if you want."

"I guess. There's nothing really to do these days."

"Yeah." Aang picked up a pebble and threw it towards his Lemu. Momo caught it and tried to eat it, then coughed it back up and hissed at it. "Wanna play a game?" Aang asked.

"What kind of game?"

"Um…do we have cards?" Aang looked over his shoulder, towards the bags by Appa's saddle.

"No. We never did."

"Oh. Hey! What about the mini-Pai Sho board? We still have…"

"Gone. Left it back at the Fire Nation."

"What? Why?!"

"I was playing with Iroh and…well…I just kind of forgot it."

"Aw, man." Aang moaned.

"Pai Sho takes to long anyway."

"Go?" Aang suggested.

"Go where?"

"No. I mean Go. The game."

"What game?"

"Go!"

"Go where?!"

"Forget it. We don't even have a board for that."

"Whatever." Toph yawned.

They didn't say anything for a while. Aang and Toph both began to drift off into day-dreamland. Toph stared off into space while Aang's eyes shot back and forth between her and Momo.

She looked so good, and he didn't have the guts to tell her. Aang wished he did. He wanted nothing more than to tell her how cute her bangs were or how her green outfit made her hair look even blacker.

"_So…" Aang finally spoke up. "…there's nothing you can think of doing?"_

"_Well…" Toph's eyes narrowed, lustfully. She leaned towards Aang, pressing her leg against his. "…there is…__**one**__ thing I can think of."_

_Two seconds passed. All it took was a slow movement towards each ither and they were both lip locked. They held each other tightly. Aang ran his fingers through her hair and loved every second of it._

"…_Aang…" Toph moaned as he kissed her neck. "…Aang…"_

"Aang!" Toph shouted and Aang woke up from his daydream.

"WHAT!! I wasn't thinking of anything weird!!" Aang shouted as he jolted up straight.

"O…okay?" Toph asked. "Are we going to do something, or are we just going to sit here? Cause I'm bored."

"Um…" Although he was a maturing young boy, he was still just that. A boy. He didn't have the guts to actually suggest kissing. So instead, he just shook his head left to right and tried not to blush.

"Forget it then." Toph huffed and her bangs went up…and slowly hovered back down, stopping gently in front of her eyes. Aang felt his heart skip a beat. "What could we do?" Toph tapped her finger against her cheek. "Wanna _make out?_"

"What?!" Aang gasped.

"I said, wanna go out? I'm kind of hungry."

"Oh…like, to eat?"

"Yeah. Town is only like a ten minute walk away. You up for it twinkle toes?"

"Um…sure." Aang felt his cheeks turn red. He tried to force them not to, but that only made him redder. Then he realized that Toph couldn't see his flushed cheeks so he stopped trying to suppress it.

"Let's go." Toph jumped up, slammed her foot on the ground and her coin bag jumped in the air, landing in the palm of her hand. "I'm buying airhead."

"Thanks." Aang smiled and ran after her as she left the camp site.

"We can play…I don't know, I Spy. On the way. Ya know, since you like games so much, I mean. Toph teased Aang.

"Okay. I guess." Aang scratched the back of his head and followed her.

"Oh…and you can hold my hand…if you want to." Toph smiled. Aang blushed.


	3. Forgiveness

**Forgiveness**

"_Sincere forgiveness isn't colored with expectations that the other person apologizes or forgives you. Don't worry whether or not they finally understand you. Love them and release them. Life feeds back truth to people in its own way and time." –Sarah Paddison_

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_Haacck-Poot!_

Toph fired a rocket of spit into the fire pit as she walked back through the campsite.

"That was disgusting!" Katara complained.

"That was awesome!" Sokka praised her.

"Yep." Toph walked right past them. She stopped herself far away from them, away from were Aang usually slept.

Stopping by the side of the nearby lake, she clapped her hands together and a stone chair popped up. She slammed down on top of it and crossed her arms, annoyed.

"Where's Aang?" Katara asked. "I thought you were out practicing earth bending?"

"I'm not his mommy! He can come home whenever he wants to!" Toph yelled without looking at Katara. The water tribe siblings knew what had happened. They didn't open their mouths, but their eyes said _"They had another fight"_, and decided that it was best just to stay out of it.

Toph sat alone, not speaking to anyone.

An hour passed before Aang came back. He paced around the edge of the forest for a while, like he was building up courage. Slowly, he walked towards the campsite but stopped just behind Toph's tent. He noticed her shift positions on her chair when he touched her stone tent, and he was sure that she knew he was there.

Toph knew. She always knew, but she refused to turn around and confirm his suspicions.

He inched towards her, hesitant, moving like a dog moves towards a snake, not sure if the slithery animal is dangerous or not.

Eventually, Aang managed to stand in front of her, even though he didn't know what to say.

"Well?" Toph asked. Her arms were tucked tightly under her armpits and her face was crinkled in frustration.

"Um…" Aang's tongue didn't work very well when he was arond Toph.

"I'm waiting." Toph demanded that he say something.

"…Toph…I'm…sorry" Aang didn't have the sand to say what he really wanted to say to her, so he thought carefully of how to mask his real message. "I know we fight a lot…"

"Ha! A lot, he says." Toph said, talking to herself.

"…yeah." Aang felt his brow lower in shame. "It's not because I don't like you. It's because…I respect you so much. I mean, you're incredible. You really are. And…I don't like it when you put me down for not being as good as you…because I start thinking that I am good enough for you. And that's the last thing I want."

Now, most people (especially women) who have anything softer than a stone heart would have felt something close to sympathy for the nervous little airbender. Toph, however, was as stubborn as the element she cold bend and, when it came to matters of the heart, was twice as thick.

"Yeah, yeah. Forgiven. Now…get out of here." She waved her hand, dismissing Aang.

Her dead eyes could not see the defeated look on his face. If she could have, her stone heart would have probably cracked.

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That night, Toph made the foolish mistake of going to bed angry. She tossed and turned, trying desperately to forget what Aang had said. The more she thought about how sincere he was and now cold-hearted she was to him, the more frustrated she became…with him. If he hadn't of said those nice things, she would have been able to have a good nights sleep. After all, it wasn't _her_ fault. These kinds of things were always someone else's fault.

She rolled over, bumping her hips against the ground, sensing Appa and hearing Aang snore gently on his back.

"Stupid airhead." She grumbled. "Why do you always have to be so nice to me?"

Then Toph's stone heart softened a bit, finally realizing what Aang was really trying to say to her.


	4. Song

**Tear Jerker! Time jump!**

**This story just sort of came to me. It's all I could think of, but I still think that it is special.**

**This is a reference to the "Swan Song". This is going to make some people cry. Last chance to turn away.**

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**Song**

_A swan. Like the rare bears of the Earth Kingdom and the messenger hawks of the Fire Nation, it is not mixed with another creature. A swam is pure. It is what it is supposed to be._

_We all know what sound turtle-ducks make and what sound seal-geese make, but most people will tell you that swans don't make any sound, that they are mute. However, there are few lucky people who know better._

_Swans live a good fifty years. They mate for life, they stay to raise their children, they watch them grow. Any swan, male or female, will stay to grow old with the family they helped raised._

_Anyway, there is something inside a swan's brain…an instinct, a magic spell, something. It is somehow able to know when it's time comes. They sense when their death is coming…and they are never wrong. Just before they leave this world, they find their spouse and children and once…just once… a swan finds her voice and sings an eerie, one-of-a-kind song that moves the hearts of her family._

_It is romantic. It is powerful. It is sad. It is the swan's way of saying good bye and thanking those who made her life worth living._

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"Uhhh." Toph groaned in her sleep. She didn't dream very often, but tonight she did. Vividly, she saw a beautiful white bird gliding over an endless lake and then a shadow consume it with a thunderous clap. "Wha!?" She gasped, waking up. Her old bones ached and rattled with a strange feeling that she never felt before.

She looked around her bedroom for a while, not remembering where she was more a moment. Then she saw her husband sleeping next to her, like he did every night for the many decades they had been married. The arrow tattoo on his head had lost its bright blue and faded into a thin gray after eighty years on his head, thought Toph couldn't see it.

"Aang…" Toph pushed him gently.

"Hm?" Aang grumbled as he slowly opened his eyes. He usually had trouble waking up in his old age, but he found it easy to do when Toph woke him. He was always there when his wife needed him.

"I was…" Toph's old bones kept shaking. "…I had a bad dream."

"Are you alright?" Aang grabbed her wrinkly hand and rubbed it, trying to calm her down. He knew something was wrong with her right away. "You feel…cold."

"I…just have this feeling." She said as her hand pressed on her delicate temple, brushing past her long gray hair. "I've never felt this way before."

"Should I call the doctor?" Aang asked, pulling himself up against his pillow.

Toph could not explain why but for some reason she felt extremely sad, like everything and everyone she cared about was about to go away. Forever.

"Aang…I love you." She said, panicking. Her arms shook as she grabbed him.

"I know you do…what's wrong?" Aang began to get worried.

"Just…listen to me!" Toph yelled. Aang stopped talking. "I want you to hear this. Everyday of my life has been wonderful because of you. You…are my best friend. I love our family…our kids and…this house. You've never hurt me or let me down. I love you…so much. My life would have been nothing if you hadn't taken me away from my parent's all those years ago. You saved my life then, and you saved it other times. You're my hero Aang. You never let me down. I could never repay you for everything you've done. I just…I just want you to know that there is no one in this world I'd rather be with then you." Toph began to weep. "I don't care how many times we've fought. I don't care about those little things. I love you. I love you so much Aang."

"Toph…" Aang grabbed her hand tighter. "I love you too. So much." He kissed her hand and continued to gently rub it.

"You mean everything to me." She said. Toph sniffled through her nose. Aang imagined a tear going down her cheek. "I don't know where I'd be or what I'd be without you. Aang…" Her voice began to squeak and began to weaken from sadness. "Aang…"

A very long silence passed between them. Toph stopped crying. Aang kept rubbing her hand, even after she had stopped talking.

"Toph." Aang said after a while of silently sitting in the darkness. "You've never…said things like that before. I mean, every now and then, you say something nice . But never _that _much and never all at once. Not in seventy years. Are you sure that you are okay?"

Toph didn't answer.

"Toph?" Aang nudged her. She didn't move. He suddenly noticed that her hand was colder than before. "Toph?!"

Aang snapped his fingers and his candles turned on. Even though her body lay next to him, Toph wasn't there anymore.

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In the shadows, Toph wept for her husband. Now, in the light, Aang had to weep for his wife.

The swan had flow away.


	5. Shy

**Shy**

Toph did not see him. She never _saw_ him, but Aang was sure that she was unaware of his presence, unaware of how he would always glance at her from time to time.

She'd never look back at him. She couldn't actually _see_ anything if she did look back, but that didn't stop Aang from hoping that she would glance at him every now and then.

Sometimes Katara would look at him, and a few other girls from time to time, but Aang didn't know if they were looking in _that_ way. He swore that Katara did once and a while. As flattered as he was that an older, beautiful girl looked at him like _that_, it didn't matter to him.

There was only one girl he wanted…one girl who he dreamed would give him _that_ look. The irony was that that same girl didn't even know what he looked like.

Blind, she would stare into space when the Gaang was around the campfire. Blankly, empty, no spark in her eyes expect for the reflection of the fire. When she was uninterested in the stupid stories Sokka told, or the boring conversations Katara started, her gray eyes just glanced straight ahead. Aang made a habit of sitting across from her, so that he could pretend she was looking at him instead of gazing out towards nothingness. He would tell jokes, hoping to make her laugh. When she did, Aang liked seeing her face light up. It made his pathetic dreams seem more real.

She could feel his feet lift up and touch the ground, but Aang was pretty sure that she couldn't feel his hands move. At least not as acutely. After all, if she could sense how many times he tried to grab her hand, she would have said something…or moved away.

She could tell when he was lying. That scared him. When ever she asked "Is something wrong?", or, "What's your problem?", he would never tell the truth. He would never tell her that the problem was that he couldn't fall asleep without hearing her say 'goodnight' to him or that they had been _just friends_ for years and he want more and _that_ was the problem.

She had eyes in the back of her head. Well, not really, but close enough. Even when he was flying above her or when he was swimming or when he was on the opposite side of a crowded room, he was sure that she knew he was looking at her, even if she never looked back. At least not in _that_ way.

Sometimes she would turn her head and Aang pretend that she looked at him. It always made him feel…special, even though he knew it was nothing more than a false glance.

Toph did a lot of things that he remembered.

However, there was one thing that stood out more than anything else, one thing that always drove him mad with questions and doubts and insecurities.

Whenever he did something nice for her, when ever he helped her across a lake or held a door open for her or when he cooked her dinner, Toph would do this…

She would tilt her head, eyes crossing his, smile playful, then say "Thanks Aang", and wink at him.

She would wink at him! With her eyes!!

Aang was not sure if it was girls, or just _that_ particular girl, but he just didn't understand.


	6. Ecstasy

**Aang's POV. I wanted to try something…more poetic with this story.**

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**Ecstasy**

I remember when we were seventeen. I'll never forget that night. We were both so nervous. It was the first time I saw her tremble. My heart was jogging inside my chest, I could barely breathe. We had a few awkward minutes of shame and fear…and then there was nothing but bliss. We were sweating, we held onto each other like we would die if we let go. We counted stars outside our window, fell asleep on top of each other, felt the rising sun wake us both up at the same time. It was ecstasy.

I remember when we were sixteen. I was nervous then too. She was dressed beautifully and it made me feel underdressed. Everyone was having a great time; dancing, eating, playing festival games, laughing loudly. I bought her a pork bun and she gave me half. There were fireworks over our heads when I finally took a chance and pressed my lips against hers. She didn't push me away, or make a smart comment. She just…let me. She actually let me kiss her! It was bliss.

I remember when we were fifteen. Nervous isn't the best word to use. Terrified is better. She would walk next to me, swinging her arms gently, her open palm mocking me. For days, all I could think about was holding her hand. I tried to grab it over and over, but chickened out more times than I could count. Then one day I did it without thinking. She sounded surprised, called me weird…but then I felt her squeeze my hand back. It was amazing.

I remember when we were fourteen. We had known each other for years, we hung out together all the time. But one day…she just looked different. She was the same girl, the same old friend wearing the same clothes and sporting the same attitude, but still…there was something about the way she looked. I was so curious as to what that something was that I found myself staring at her. I remember being afraid of her, wondering what she thought of me, if she thought I was a dork or too short. I don't think she noticed how anxious she made me, which was fine. Just being around her, just being able to look her in her eyes… now _that_ was ecstasy.


	7. Balance

**Toph and Aang are older here. Figure about…18.**

**That doesn't mean it's a sex story, so get your heads out of the gutter.**

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**Balance**

_Yin and Yang describe all things. Heaven and earth, what is above us and below us. Male and Female, the active and strong, the passive and gentle. The elements, the seasons, the way people speak and interact…all is tied in with Yin and Yang. All things have an opposite that they cannot live without._

"Pffft." Toph blew a raspberry. "That's a load of crap."

"It is not! This is ancient airbender wisdom!" Aang moaned as ht put his calligraphy brush down.

"It's ancient alright." Toph teased him.

Finally reestablished in the Southern Air Temple and fully realized as an Avatar, Aang had been desperately trying to rebuild the Air Nomad society. For weeks, he had been trying to remember some of the ancient wisdom of his people. But Toph, who never left him alone since he proposed to her, wanted to give her own two cents on everything he did, including rewriting his history. He nagging duties as a wife had begun early, it seemed.

"Nothing could be truer than this!" Aang pulled out a picture of the liang yi and pushed it into Toph's face. "See!"

"NO! I don't! How many years have we been together?! You still don't get that I am blind?!"

"…oops." Aang put the liang yi picture away. "Well, that doesn't make its principal any less true."

"I don't believe it." Toph said.

"Why?" Aang asked, ready to defend the beliefs of his people.

"It doesn't explain us."

"What does _that_ mean?" Aang grew annoyed with her. He knew where she was going.

"Please. If yin is supposed to be female, gentleness, passivity and all that gay stuff…and yang is supposed to be male, power, aggressiveness…then why is it that I have more masculine qualities than you?!"

"First of all, I am a MAN!"

"Barely."

"Second of all, it doesn't work that way _sweetheart_." Aang tried to correct her. "It's not that all qualities are in one yin or yang. It's supposed to be a symbol of opposites, not _every_ opposite. Okay look…it's supposed to say that everything in this world compliments it's opposite and while those opposing forces tend to clash every now and then, they need each other. So while women tend to be gentler than men and men tend to……WAKE UP!!"

Aang screamed at Toph just as she began to snore.

"Aahhh." She yawned. "I'm sorry. I spaced out at the boring part. So I missed all of it."

"Why do I even bother?" Aang shook his head and went back to writing on his scroll.

_Nature understands this as well. The light and darkness of the sun and moon shows this. While the seasons make day longer in summer and night longer in winter, combining those times of the year create balance. The shadows and light dance with the heat of the earth. The world itself is a spinning liang yi!_

"Boooring!" Toph echoed.

"Why do you always have to criticize me?!" Aang yelled.

"Why do you always have to talk when you write?"

"Because it helps me think!!" In actuality, it was that Aang had developed a habit of reading to Toph and couldn't help but speak out loud when she was near.

"That all sounded lame. Spice it up a bit twinkle toes. Make it catchier."

"What? You think you could think of something better?"

"Yeah. Something that rhymes. Like…yin and yang, what a set. Yin and yang, only the best!"

Aang rubbed his eyes. "I think I'll stick to my own style."

"I'm telling you, make it rhyme! People hate poems that don't have a rhyme scheme."

"I'm not writing a poem!!" Aang insisted.

"I know. A poem has to rhyme to it. If you don't put a rhyme in it, people are gonna think it's a bad poem."

"It's not supposed to rhyme!!" Aang screamed.

"Fine. Let the critics judge you." Toph turned away from him and lay down, relaxing. Aang had never felt an urge to hit a woman before, but Toph was pushing it.

Aang had to calm himself down before he could start writing again.

_However, within each force…_

"I can still hear you talking to yourself." Toph reminded him.

Aang grumbled at her, then put his hand over his mouth.

_However, within each force, there is a bit of the opposing. Within every male, there is a feminine side. Within every hot summer day, there is a cool breeze. At night, there is the moon to light the way. This creates the attraction that pulls the forces together. For nature, it creates harmony. For the elements, it creates balance._

Aang looked at his future wife. Even thought she caused him more headaches then he could ever imagine, he still loved her.

_For humans, it creates true love. Opposites need each other to maintain each other. That is the secret to all that is._

Aang put his brush down. Toph heard it.

"Finished already?" She asked. "Hey!" Toph felt Aang hug her. Then kiss her gently on her nose.

"I wouldn't want a headache from anyone else." Aang squeezed her tighter, trying to be sweet.

"Yeah, yeah. Quit trying to cop a feel." Toph said.

"I was not trying to…oh, you are so…I'm going back to my poem! I MEAN…It's not a poem!!"

"HA! I got you to say it." Toph giggled.

"Grrrr." Aang grabbed his calligraphy brush and nearly broke it into two pieces.

"I love you." Toph reminded him.

"I love you too, dammit!" Aang shouted without looking at her.


End file.
